Moscow (TIP): President Vladimir Putin on December 27 delivered Russia’s long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from February 1 for five months to nations that impose the cap.

The Group of Seven major powers, the European Union and Australia agreed this month to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil effective from December 5 over Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. The decree, published on a government portal and the Kremlin website, was presented as a direct response to “actions that are unfriendly and contradictory to international law by the US and foreign states and international organisations joining them”.

“Deliveries of Russian oil and oil products to foreign entities and individuals are banned, on the condition that in the contracts for these supplies, the use of a maximum price fixing mechanism is directly or indirectly envisaged,” the decree stated, referring specifically to the US and other foreign states that have imposed the price cap.

The decree stated: “This…comes into force on February 1, 2023, and applies until July 1, 2023.” Crude oil exports will be banned from February 1, but the date for the oil products ban will be determined by the Russian government. — Reuters